S BAKER RTY TIME
Y reject to MK Dons hero
of con- lled the loanee e Alli’s central he 19purs. obably played n’t think d he is, me. He’s such a down-to-earth young lad that he doesn’t take it in.
“Most people will look at him and think,‘What, £5m for a young lad from League One?’.
Composure
“But if you play with him all season like I have, see the way he uses the ball, his maturity, his composure – he’s no risk.
“I think he’ll go to Spurs and do really well and I’d expect him to be in the England set-up much sooner than you’d imagine.”
Robinson must also be hoping that promotion to the Championship will increase his chances of getting Alli back on loan, but Baker isn’t convinced.
“It’s possible, but I honestly reckon he’ll go to Spurs and feature straight off,” he says.“People will see he’s young, see they’re a big club with a massive squad and put him down as one for the future. But once (manager) Mauricio Pochettino sees him play, I think he’ll be in and around the first team.
“If I’m wrong and they do want to give him a season in the Championship, then myself and every player here would love to have him back.
“But if he’s doesn’t, then I’m sure we’ll get other talented young players from the Premier League.
“You just need to look at young Lewis Baker this season – Chelsea actually got in touch with MK Dons to ask if they’d be interested in taking him.
“They’d seen the way Karl plays our football, our track record with young players like Benik and Patrick Bamford and the trust he puts in them.
Positivity
“It’s a new club and there are so many young supporters. There’s a lot of optimism and positivity around the place and it’s the perfect environment for young players – and old ones like me!”
Speaking of which, isn’t Baker getting a bit long in the tooth to be jetting off to Marbella with the rest of the squad, courtesy of Dons chairman Pete Winkelman?
“Yeah, you’re not wrong,” he laughs.“But I’m not going to let it stop me having a good time. The last time we went up, the chairman paid for everybody to go to Vegas.We were hoping we might be going again but then we realised it was a non-starter – lads like Dele Alli and Lewis Baker wouldn’t even be allowed in the casinos because they’re too young!
“We couldn’t leave them out so we decided on Marbella. It should be a good time and I think we’ve deserved it.”
So will the partying obliterate the memories? “Not a chance,” says Baker. “I will never forget what’s happened here. It’s been one of the best years of my life.”